Behaviors of Zn₂GeO₄ under high pressure and high temperature

The structural stability of Zn₂GeO₄ was investigated by in-situ synchrotron radiation angle dispersive x-ray diffraction. The pressure-induced amorphization is observed up to 10 GPa at room temperature. The high-pressure and high-temperature sintering experiments and the Raman spectrum measurement firstly were performed to suggest that the amorphization is caused by insufficient thermal energy and tilting Zn-O-Ge and Ge-O-Ge bond angles with increasing pressure, respectively. The calculated bulk modulus of Zn₂GeO₄ is 117.8 GPa from the pressure-volume data. In general, insights into the mechanical behavior and structure evolution of Zn₂GeO₄ will shed light on the micro-mechanism of the materials variation under high pressure and high temperature.